Tag Archives: random tables

DESCRIPTION

You enter a new star system and long range sensors detect a single vessel of Silhouette 1 at the far end of the system.

Do you move in to investigate?

INVESTIGATE

You find an imperial probe droid floating near an interstellar beacon. Despite its pristine condition, it appears to be deactivated. Probes of this type are known to collect vast amounts of data that are both encrypted and guarded by built-in security measures.

ENCOUNTER

A Crew bringing in the deactivated probe on board their starship may attempt to slice into its protected databanks to retrieve valuable information. Doing so is an upgradedDauntingComputers (dddcbb) check, with a Setback die added due to encryption protocols on the data and an additional Setback die added due to the probes built-in security measures.

A successful check unlocks a single, powerful piece of information at random; chosen from the table below. Advantage increases the overall benefit of the information in some way, and each Triumph adds an additional, random piece of information that is combined with the original, changing both. If Threat is revealed, the probe is accidentally activated. Its weapons and shields go online; prepare for a fight! On a result showing Despair, Imperial authorities have been alerted to this infraction through emergency hyperspace signals and will pursue the Crew, adding 5 Obligation (criminal).

Random Valuable Data Table

Roll (d10)

Data Recovered

1

Inside information that can be used to pull off an extremely profitable venture, such as a bank heist.

2

The location of a hidden Jedi.

3

The location of a hidden Rebel Alliance base or starship.

4

Security access codes to a military installation or starship.

5

Evidence that incriminates a Nemesis in a crime.

6

Evidence that exonerates the Crew or an ally from a crime.

7

Evidence of an embarrassing scandal perpetrated by a wealthy and powerful individual, such as an Imperial Moff.

8

Information that can be used to promote one of the Crew’s Motivations.

DESCRIPTION

You enter a new star system and long range sensors detect a single vessel of Silhouette 4 at the far end of the system.

Do you move in to investigate?

INVESTIGATE

You cross paths with a starship of unusual design that looks to have had dozens of layers of armor-plating added over its battered hull. As the starship approaches to within sensor range, you are able to identify the vessel as a defunct Mandalorian design, previously thought long-lost. The comm systems crackle to life with an insectoid voice clicking away in the native Gand language;

A wave of terror washes over the thoughts of the Crew as you recognize the name of this ruthless marauder. KazaaakplethKilik is a paranoid, xenophobic murderer and obsessive hoarder. She has collected a lifetimes worth of stolen wealth goods and hidden it in a remote outer rim location. She has a reputation for cruelty and deadliness, and as such each member of the Crew must immediately make an upgradedAverage (dc) Fearcheck.

KazaaakplethKilik despises all non-Gand lifeforms and adds two Setback dice (bb) to all Social skill checks made by species other than her own used to influence her. If she is not otherwise dissuaded, KazaaakplethKilik’s primary motivation is to steal all of the Crew’s possessions, including their starship.

ENCOUNTER

If the enemy ship is destroyed, the tattered scraps from the empty husk of the ship can be collected and sold, taking 50 Encumbrance and having a base value of 2,000 credits.

If KazaaakplethKilik’s ship is either disabled or boarded, she immediately signals her surrender and offers to reveal the location of one of her secret vaults in exchange for her life. One Crew member makes an opposed Charm, Coerce, or Deceit check as appropriate against KazaaakplethKilik as she tells the coordinates for nearby stashes of stolen goods, with two Setback (bb) added if the Crew member is not a Gand (see Results below).

The locations of the hidden valuables are known only to KazaaakplethKilik and are not directly recorded in any fashion. However, a boarding party may easily download the enemy starship’s databanks in an attempt to triangulate the locations of recently visited treasure caches with an upgraded Daunting (dddc) Astrogationcheck (see Results below), with additional Setback dice added as appropriately for external factors such as starship damage.

RESULTS

Each Success:The Crew uncover the coordinates and access codes for one hidden stash of treasures, located at a random star system in the galaxy. Each hidden stash contains one random starship component (roll 2d10; see Random Starship Component Table below), as well as a wealth of credits as determined by the number of Advantage generated, if any.

Each Advantage: Every secret stash found also has stored within a cache of an additional 1,000 credits.

Each Triumph: One hidden vault has an intact starfighter housed within (roll 1d10; see Random Starfighter Table below). Alternatively, Galaxy Masters are encouraged to provide exotic, new, and experimental star fighters in lieu of those listed.

DESCRIPTION

You enter a new star system and long range sensors detect a single vessel of Silhouette 4.Do you move in to investigate?

INVESTIGATE

You receive an encoded signal on a private relay from a Ghtroc 720 Light Freighter orbiting a nearby uninhabited rocky planetoid. A holographic image of a Bothan man with matted fur and gaudy clothes appears and speaks to you:

“Greetings! You must be the smugglers everyone in the sector has been talking about. Please, I am Dall Trem, a collector of ancient artifacts. I have many priceless wonders hidden within my cargo holds that I am sure you will find to your liking. Shall we meet on the planet to discuss business?”

ENCOUNTER

Dall Trem is true to his word and does everything in his power to broker a peaceful deal, but slanted in his favor. Dall Trem is a master salesman and always negotiates to get the best price he can for his wares.

The Bothan captain is careful and will only allow one unarmed Crew Member onto his ship to look at his wares. The selected character is brought into the freighter’s cargo holds and finds a veritable junkyard of scrap parts, broken equipment, and busted droids. The Crew Member may make a Hard (ddd) Perception check to scavenge through the piles of junk looking for worthwhile usable equipment and gear. The lighting in the freighter flickers and dims due to a malfunctioning power coupling, adding two Setback (bb) to the Perception check. Clever players may offer to fix the lighting and remove Setback with a successful Average (dd) Mechanics check.

For each success made on the Perception check; one rare, valuable (and sometimes illegal) item is found and offered for sale. Roll 2d10 and consult the table below for each item to determine exactly what is for sale. Each item’s price is then modified by the results of negotiations with the Bothan trader, as per the Negotiate skill.

If attacked in space, Dall Trem immediately flees into hyperspace. If attacked on board ship, the Bothan captain tries to end the situation peacefully and flee the planetoid, attacking only when necessary and never to kill. In either case, the Crew gains 5 Obligation (Betrayal) as word of their traitorous, aggressive, blood-thirsty act spreads throughout the cantinas of the galaxy.

A galaxy of diversity exists in the Star Wars universe. So, too, does this diversity extend to the variety of handheld weaponry available to your Crew, their associates, and their enemies. Use the chart below in the uncommon situations where the type of handheld blaster weapon used by a character is important; an investigation of a violent crime, illegal transport of arms to militia groups, framing a rival for a crime he or she didn’t commit, or a covert assault against a military installation.

As always, roll some dice to get a random item for inspiration, or use the list to pick and choose your design.

When designing a deadly, challenging B is for Beast or N is for Nemesis, it is often helpful for the Galaxy Master to begin by envisioning what extreme Characteristics their creation should have. These types of superlative enemies should always have an array of talents, tricks, weapons, and defenses that present a challenge to the players that have broken the rules, gone beyond the envelope of “fairness”. Most importantly, these additions make this creature into something totally awesome. The techniques described in this post are in large part an extension of the design of the major enemies in Fane of the Sith Lords, such as The Emperor, Mara Jade, and the Four-headed Hyper-evolved Dianoga.

Under the FFG Star Wars RPG, a typical creation made in this manner will have one of four options for their brutal base Characteristics:

one characteristic at 7

two characteristics at 6

four characteristics at 5

a mix of the above

In addition, every frustrating enemy must always have one or two Characteristics at a lowly 1. Your creature should have an unfair advantage, a true challenge to be overcome, but also a distinct weakness that can be exploited by clever and persistent players. The fun in using these horrorific creations is not in punishing the other players or reveling in your own ability to “win”; satisfaction is instead found in seeing the players pull out a glorious victory in the face of certain doom.

At this stage, a Galaxy Master should also begin imagining the fiction that informs and supports the Characteristics. What makes your creature’s abilities so extreme? Is it cybernetic, Sith-touched, genetically modified, from another universe, incredibly ancient, or something else?

Lastly, make sure to enforce your narrative with real bite by applying concrete, definable new abilities and weaknesses to reflect your creature’s Characteristics. An enemy with Willpower 7 is just one that rolls a lot of dice, but a foe that can drain the life force of living creatures is an opponent that will never be forgotten. An array of special abilities and weaknesses has been provided below to help inspire your own designs. It is recommended that a truly frightful enemy be provided with a minimum of 3 such abilities.

The Galactic Empire rules its subjects through uncompromising laws. Frequently, your player characters will encounter, or become, special Imperial citizens that have been accused of a heinous crime. These crimes all represent cases that are somehow unique, with the details of the circumstances left open to fit the needs of the Galaxy Master’s story.

Each crime has a Perpetrator, an individual suspected to be the head of the offense or perhaps merely a scapegoat. A suggested list of misconduct is then provided to describe the Crime for which this character stands accused.

Each wrongdoing here is consider a grave felony and with comes a Punishment designed to instill abject horror in any would-be felons. When the player characters get involved with this crime, and surely they will, a complication or wrinkle will be brought up that may make them question their previously held values. The Motivation behind the crime, why the perpetrator committed such an act, should come as some sort of surprise or revelation, a most excellent way to introduce ethical and moral decisions onto the players at your table.

Roll randomly (d10) on the charts below or choose the grim sentence of your own volition.

When designing a Crime & Punishment, it may be helpful to also envision the associated Trial to go with it.

Building on the successes of the first T is for Talents, this post aims to include a variety of new situations to cover the Careers and Specializations in both FFG Star Wars roleplaying game core books.

Combat in Edge of the Empire cannot be avoided. However, special care needs to be taken in a campaign so that the Galaxy Master does not fall into the seductive path of quick, easy, predictable, repetitive, and boring combat encounters. In fact, player characters in Edge of the Empire would do well to find ways to avoid fighting, if at all possible, even if that means sending allied troops to certain death for the greater good.

In order for Galaxy Masters to help push their players away from too much tactical combat in a non-tactical game, they must entice those players with rewarding scenes in which the players’ characters are able to demonstrate their value and worth. This can be done by designing scenes which benefit the unique and often underrepresented Career Talents. Compiled in the table below are interesting challenges, scenarios, and problems to be solved all taken from the benefits incurred by the Talents offered for each Career and Specialization that do not have an obvious benefit in combat, or whose benefit in combat is in a specialized niche.

When you, as Galaxy Master, are struggling to find a way to either move the plot of your adventure along in a new way, or are grasping to find a way to shine a spotlight on a player character that has been too long neglected, consult the list below to gain inspiration by either choosing an interesting scene or challenge described, or roll randomly with a d100 to let fate be your guide.